If you ever wondered how male homosexuality was thought of in 1964, at least by tabloid publications (was that an accurate representation of mainstream America, I wonder?), wonder no more.
Source: http://www.pulpinternational.com/pulp/entry/Cover-and-scans-from-Top-Secret-published-January-1964.html
I got bogged down in some Illuminati conspiracy web content earlier today. I spent a significant amount of time reading about Debra Hunter Pitts, aka Layla Cries, who (according to the literature) was the girlfriend of both Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana back in the day, and seems to have love children by both of them.
The story goes that she was taken as a child and trafficked into the covert world of the rich and powerful, due to her psychic abilities. [Note to self – do NOT publish article about my own psychic abilities] After years of horrible slavery and forced prostitution, she was finally rescued, and planned to make it her mission to bring down the power structure. Somehow she met Clapton and Santana (this almost sounds like a TV Funhouse episode so far) and both wanted to marry her, but she didn’t want to marry either. However, she did want to have their children.
Clapton supposedly paid to put her album out in 1971 (Layla Cries – Dressed in Love). In addition, despite what everyone knows about Pattie Boyd being first George Harrison’s wife and then Eric Clapton’s, and being the true inspiration of the song Layla, according to the literature (and an interview with Debra) not only was she the inspiration, she actually wrote the song and gave it to Clapton, originally titled Baby.
I have thus far been unable to confirm the existence of the Layla Cries album. It sounds like a real collector’s item.
Until such a time as I can get my hands on a copy (even a digital copy), this will have to do: The Beatles performing the Dead Kennedys’ California Uber Alles.
A friend posted an excellent article yesterday, To Fall In Love With Anyone, Do This. The article is excellent, and so is the article linked from it, No. 37: Big Wedding or Small, which contains the 36 questions used in the scientific experiment which led to a couple of strangers falling in love in a lab.
But that’s not really what I’m sharing today. The mere title of that article reminded me of the title of an Okkervil River album, Don’t Fall In Love With Everyone You See, a cautionary title if I’ve ever heard one. There’s no title track per se, that you could play on repeat on your iPod Nano to keep you reminded not to fall into that trap, but there are some real gems on the album. It was released in January 2002, just a few months after 9/11.
The album is home to one of my favorite modern murder ballads, which is what I really wanted to talk about this morning. Westfall, according to Wikipedia, comes from recollections of the Yogurt Shop Murders. I don’t remember reading about this horrible case before, but boy, was it a clusterfuck. Four teenaged girls shot, bound and gagged, then the shop they were in set on fire. And that’s how authorities found them. And somehow over fifty people confessed to the crime. HOW? I don’t care how good a detective you are, how to you get FIFTY PEOPLE to confess to a crime that they obviously did not commit????
Clearly there is more to this still-unsolved mystery.
As usual, the headline is at least a slight distortion of the study, not the last word. The gist of the article is that they have proven that the bladder fills and empties during these events, but there are chemicals in the fluid that aren’t in pre-sex urine. So I would call that a mixed verdict. The next step, according to the article, is to find out why these things happen.
http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/women-squirting-during-sex-may-actually-be-peeing
This man is your god.
I came across this today, it’s a video by someone who has moved into the free library at Slab City, and is kind of now the de facto caretaker of the library.
I love the idea of this place. I love the idea of this library in this place.
In the expanded text under the video is the following verbiage. I plan to go through and find some of my more exotic books that I collected in my youth, that can maybe find another life among the “dirty kids” at the Slabs. I encourage you consider doing the same.
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If you would like to send support in a different form, you can also send support-packages to
PO Box 642
Niland, CA
92257
Some of the things that we can use are educational books on travel, survival, philosophy, politics, art, ‘zines, queer resources, science, alternative health and healing, spirituality and classic literature, “banned” books, beatnik poetry, etc….
Some things that I could use personally are gluten-free and health-food snacks (the grocery options are very limited here in this part of the desert), nails, medicinal herbs, toilet paper, outdoor gear, reasonably healthy canned cat food, decent acrylic paint, professional grade paint brushes, small canvases, india ink and stones for energy purposes.
Interesting that major corporate concerns are embracing Bitcoin NOW. This is a chart showing Bitcoin pricing after the Bitstamp hack in which $5M in Bitcoin was stolen.
I wish I had $5M in Bitcoin.
http://www.zdnet.com/article/bitstamp-bitcoin-exchange-suspended-amid-hack-concerns-heres-what-we-know/
I was first introduced to this song when I heard Jerry Garcia’s version. But it’s an old, old, very old song. as old as 1656. Tom Waits has a version on his Orphans album. This version, by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, gives it the respect it deserves.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twa_Sisters